Without interrupting our countdown for BOY Awards (check out our coverage in PART 1, PART 2 and PART 3, to find out about it), We would like to proceed with a more sporty topic. So here’s our TOP 10 FOOTBALL STADIUMS in the world.

The impressive stadium contains 66 000 seats that are distributed along three rings of tiers.

The stadium hosts two teams, namely Bayern München and TSV 1860 München. Both teams decided to cooperate for the construction of their new home. However, the external look of the stadium changes depending on the team that plays in the stadium. When Bayern play their home game, the stadium is coloured red and white. The colours turn into white and blue when the stadium hosts 1860 München for their home games.

The outside material of the stadium is made of transparent elements. They cover the entire structure (made of reinforced concrete) that supports the tiers from the bottom up to the top where imposing supporting beams hold the roof of the stadium.

As well as designing a modern stadium, the team was challenged with creating a venue that was part of the culture of China and would put Beijing on the map.

The stadium has two independent structures, a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it at a 50ft distance. As this was an Olympic venue, there were many standards that the design consortium had to conform to.

The circular shape of the stadium represents heaven, but has been described as a bird’s nest, with its pattern inspired by Chinese-style crazed pottery. A series of cantilevered trusses has been designed to support the roof, shading the seats.

Focus was also given to designing the stadium in such a way that it should be able to withstand earthquakes without much damage as the stadium is located in one of the world’s most seismic zones.

Located along the Persian Gulf in the eastern coastal city of Doha, is one of 12 conceptual stadia included in the winning 2022 Qatar World Cup bid. The building will provide Qatar with an opportunity to present the most flexible, technologically sophisticated and environmentally sustainable stadium the world has ever seen. In addition to World Cup soccer, the stadium is designed to accommodate a variety of uses, even beyond sport.

Drawing on the rich tradition of the nomadic Bedouin tribes, the structure’s inspiration comes from a Bedouin tent. Like the nomadic culture, the tents had an architectural design enabling them to adapt to their environment. The versatile stadium incorporates a partially-retractable roof, retractable pitch and a transformable seating bowl.

The playing field is situated 9.5 meters (31 feet) under ground level and surrounded by three big rings of continuous tiers that follow a slightly curved profile. The stands run along the entire perimeter and, together with the roof structure, accentuate the horizontal outline of the stadium. The roof is slightly separated by the tribunes and is supported by a rectangular structure of supporting beams.

The stadium is nicknamed “Il Coloso de Santa Úrsula” (the Colossus of Saint Úrsula) because of its imposing size. It was inaugurated in 1966 and renovated in 1986 to host the World Cup for the second time.

In the refurbishment of the Maracanã, the existing exterior structure of this 60-year-old, 79,000-seat soccer stadium will be preserved as much as possible but inside the bleachers the intention is for a great revelation, the impression of an entirely new stadium – fashioned according to the spirit of the original.

The Maracana was originally built using reinforced concrete. It has an oval shape and consists of two tiers divided by medium-sized open boxes. A cantilevered roof spanning 30m covers 34 rows at the rear of the stadium.

The Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa is a stadium that was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Greenpoint Stadium is situated as a solitary body, embedded in Greenpoint Common at the foot of Signal Hill and is ordered respectfully into the landscaped complex. The exterior shell of the stadium was designed as an abstract, linearly arranged membrane construction. Its unique undulating silhouette, which is the result of the geometry of the stadium body, transforms the stadium into a sculptural object and intensifies its integration into the existing landscape.

8. Rungrado May Day Stadium

Pyongyang, North Korea

Capacity: 150,000

Opened: 1 May 1989

The area of the pitches is over 22 500 square metres. The stadium has eight storeys and is more than 60 metres high from the ground to the roof. The 60 metre long canopy is enough to cover the section of the stands.

The roofs look like a large flower floating on the clear water of the Taedong, or a parachute which has just landed, so it gives the impression of a dynamic sculpture. The stadium has 80 exits and ten lifts.

Home to Sporting Clube de Braga, “Estádio Axa” was created on the mountainside by levelling down a pit of the mountain Monte Castro and served as a hosting venue for the Euro 2004 tournament.

One tribune has been literally inserted and placed against the hill, while the other tribune stands free along the mountain’s declivity. On the other side, the rocks have been excavated and there are no tribunes that hide the beautiful scenery of the valley. Accordingly, the stadium becomes part of the mountain.

The tiers are covered by a structure of steel cables which are tightened between the two tribunes. They go across the entire playing field and resemble the ancient and rusticated bridges that were constructed by the Incas.

First, it was built in harmony into a natural environment characterized by granite walls on one side and an open space on the other, offering a natural scenery in proximity to the playing field.

For such an expansive site, the minimal structural components work to create the dynamic sweeping surfaces that are created by various tensile connections resulting in an undulating mesh. As the system works its way across the artificial landscape toward the main stadium, which was built in a crater from the bombings of WWII, the membrane begins to compress as it fades around the stadium. The dramatic shift in scales of coverage heightens the perception of the floating artificial landscape that forms out of the ground to create large open span volumes only to integrate back into the ground.

Even after 40 years after its completion, the tensile tent-like structure appears just as it did during the 1972 Olympics, the lines, form, structure, and the architectural awe still remain.

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